Thomas: Finding your roots

“Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.” is another of the Harvard professor’s wonderful television series for PBS. This is “must-see TV” and a more than worthy sequel to three previous projects Gates has hosted about how some of us came to be what and who we are.

In this latest 10-part series, Gates explores the genealogical and genetic history of a diverse group of people, from entertainer Harry Connick Jr. and Pastor Rick Warren to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Brown University President Ruth Simmons.

There are less famous people, but the famous get you hooked for the rest.

As I wrote about the earlier series, “African American Lives,” which traced the African and slave roots of celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey and Chris Rock, Gates eviscerates any excuse for racism when he explores the lineage of the African Americans he interviews. That’s because the whitest and blackest among us are actually a mix of genes formed out of a racial melting pot that includes ancestors who were both black and white.

Gates and his team unearth the facts and speak for themselves.

One of the most poignant moments in the current series is when Condoleezza Rice learns about her great-grandmother, Julia Head. Through stories told by her family, Rice learned that Head was the child of a slave and a white slave owner. After a search of courthouse records in Greene County, Ala., Gates discovers documents that reveal Julia Head was just four years old when she was sold for $450.

Shown the record of the sale, Rice soberly responds, “My great-grandmother was worth $450 to Mr. Head. Yeah, dehumanization. Just property.”

Conservatives should love this series because it shows that despite incredible odds that argued against success, the subjects Gates profiles overcame overwhelming obstacles to achieve something significant. Long before the birth of our entitlement generation, we held these kinds of role models up to young people. The message was, “If they could overcome, so can you.”

That’s what Rice’s parents believed. On “Finding Your Roots,” Rice said her parents told her that even though she might not have been able to drink a soda at the local Woolworths segregated lunch counter in 1963, she could be president of the United States if she wished. She came close.

In an age when we change homes and jobs many times during our lifetimes and families are broken up because of divorce and other factors, finding one’s roots is an important component to filling in ones family tree.

Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I headed?

Professor Gates provides answers to the people he profiles, but his programs also encourage viewers to explore their own family histories.

If you missed “Finding Your Roots,” check your local PBS listings for rebroadcast dates. This is omething rare for TV today: a program that helps you appreciate the value of your own life.